La máquina del amor

An amusing and charming comedy about two American sailors : Steve McQueen , Jack Mullaney and a computer generator scam . The crew aboard the USS Elmira warship is testing the Magnetic Analyzer Computing Synchotron called Max . As navy lieutenant McQueen and Mullaney hook up with computer expertise: Jim Hutton to use his ship's computer to beat the gambling odds at a Venetian Casino . The principal issue of the movie is that the hi-tech computer on board the ship can predict the winning numbers on an Italian roulete wheel based on knowledge of the former winning numbers . But their commander : Dean Jagger, misinterprets the signals and thinks the warship is being attacked . Meanwhile , the Admiral's daughter : Brigid Bazlen falls in love for Steve MacQueen and Jim Hutton finds his old flame : Paula Prentiss about to marry her new boastful boyfriend . First either sex ...and makes nothing but laughter !

Entertaining , attractive , bemusing and agreeable comedy , it is an enjoyable film , fast-paced and the computer was new territory in 1961 . Based on the play The Golden Fleecing written by Lorenzo Semple Jr and script by George Welles . It contains the ordinary premise , a peculiar hold-up , but the novelty this time by winning a fortune using an electronic brain. The main and support cast are pretty good . Steve McQueen again boasts his certain hilarious skills -like he did in The Reivers- what a dab hand could be at comedy genre . However , Steve McQueen hated this film that he considered to be one of his worst . Steve McQueen and Jim Hutton are nice , while their gorgeous partenaires , the young Brigid Bazlen and the treacle-voiced Paula Prentiss are gorgeous . Sympathetic support cast with plenty of notorious secondaries as Dean Jagger in a strange comedy film character , Jack Mullaney, and the usually comical Jack Weston adds immeasurably to the fun , here stealing the show as a drunk sailor.

This zany romp motion picture was professionally directed by Richard Thorpe , though it has some flaws and some very silly comical situations, being a mild hit at the box office, getting profit enough . This filmmaker Richard Thorpe was a veteran Hollywood craftsman who directed a lot of films of all kinds of genres , drama, musical , Western , adventure , Historical, Comedy , such as : "Huckleberry Finn, Night must fall, Above suspicion, Black Hand , Malaya or East of the Rising sun, Vengeance Valley, Prisoner of Zenda, Ivanhoe, Knights of the Round Table, Quentin Durward , Jailhouse Rock, Killers of Kilimanjaro, The Last Challenge" , among others . The filick will appeal to Steve McQueen fans . Rating : 6/10. Passable and acceptable .

I turned this on in the middle or perhaps toward the end of the movie, not knowing what I was watching. I was immediately struck by Jack Weston's hilarious performance. He is priceless as a staunch obey-the-orders Naval grunt sent out on a mission that turns into a stunt worthy of Harold Lloyd. I really think he deserved an Academy Award just for the way he poured and downed glasses of bourbon, let alone his arabesque on the hotel lech -- I mean ledge (that's an inside joke -- watch the movie). Dean Jagger is admirable as always and the role of Admiral suits him to a T, er, an A; Steve McQueen is cool as the wisest smart Aleck in movie history; there's near-sighted Paula Prentiss and Jim Hutton along for the laughs. The scintillating dialog, tinged with Cold War obsessions, the breakneck pace reminiscent of Preston Sturges at his maddest -- gee, I wonder if the WHOLE movie is this good or I just lucked out and caught it at its best! But from the moment Weston attempts to search McQueen's hotel suite to the wacky end, it's a hoot.

This film works -- at least this vastly entertaining segment -- for me. And I'm a tough customer to please. Based on a play by Lorenz Semple, Jr. and he's no slouch!

This is the first movie I have ever seen that starred Steve McQueen(and it looks like it won't be the last). I loved this movie because it has that innocent but silly comedy that movies nowadays lack. I have looked for it in all the video stores but can't seem to find it. It is one of those movies that can cheer you up if you feel down. So, I will recommend watching it.

Lorenzo Semple's more deftly titled comedy, THE GOLDEN FLEECING, was missing something on Broadway. Even with master comedy director Abe Burrows at the helm and TV "name" Tom Poston in the lead (am I the only one who finds him dull?), it couldn't manage a better booking than the intimate Henry Miller's Theatre nor a run of more than 84 performances (Oct. 15 - Dec. 26, 1959) - ultimately bumped for the hit run of a serious Civil War drama, THE ANDERSONVILLE TRIAL which started 4 days later.

The Broadway run DID get a movie sale for Semple however, and hallelujah! Hollywood knew just how to handle the property. They polished the script, filled the roles with top drawer dramatic and farce players, changed the title to something sort of stupid, but which innocently implied sex (THE HONEYMOON MACHINE) and gave it a "Grade A" CinemaScope production.

Great farces MUST be played absolutely straight or they fall flat, and Dean Jagger's Admiral Fitch is a perfect example: he wraps up all the loose ends in a deadpan final confrontation even funnier than the "Hello, Daddy" court room scene in Streisand's hilarious WHAT'S UP DOC. The perfectly executed physical comedy of Jack Weston's drunken ballet on a hotel ledge is still funny (if possibly non-PC with the passing years), but probably the least funny part of this carefully scripted comedy caper film.

Steve McQueen, exuding more sex appeal than is normally on display in this sort of boulevard comedy, is a triumph his only unalloyed comedy role, showing a masterful gift for comic timing and farce delivery that makes it tragic he didn't find the genre to his taste despite the good notices he deserved and got. He's matched every step of the way by his fellow conspirators - especially Jim Hutton as the computer genius in a scam to use a Navy computer (the "machine" of the title) to perfect a "system" to break the bank at the Venice casino.

Naturally, romance (Paula Prentiss is a standout as a diplomat's straying fiancé - blind without her glasses) and other complications (like Cold War paranoia) ensue, and the result is one of those irresistible feel-good films which only gets better with repeated viewing.

There are those who just don't get the "well made" comedy, and since Hollywood rarely makes them anymore (they were a staple in the 1960's), we're not educating the palate for them these days. That's a pity, but for those who still DO enjoy them, this is one of the best. Take a 90 minute vacation on the Mediterranian!

In an era when the portrayal of the stumbling drunk hadn't become tragic and offensive, this movie has Jack Weston working his versatile magic with just such a role. He creates some moments of real humor.

McQueen gives it a hard try at being comedic and succeeds much of the time with his own style. Dean Jagger is a great foil for all the madcap goings on. For hot rod T-bucket fans there's Norm Grabowski, so called 'father of the T-bucket', working the on-board blinker.

A lightweight, silly comedy not to be viewed as anything else.